Wednesday, February 23, 2011

I have been thinking about these pictures of our home from when we first bought it ever since I posted the pictures from 10 years ago. Our house was built in the 1940's (old by Phoenix standards) and was designed in a Spanish Colonial ranch style, which was very popular at the time. The property was completely overgrown and the house was dark, musty and in need of some serious love, yet we saw the potential it held and were excited to make it our own.

And here is our home today (I realize it wasn't the best time of day to take this picture, but it is what it is)...

The front door, then and now.

The garage, then and now.

This was the original master bath, that was also the laundry room.

For those that have enjoyed watching our kitchen remodel,
here is what we started with in the very beginning.

Our living room fireplace, then and now.
How about that red?
The entire front entryway and living room were that color...

Our family room fireplace, then and now.

Well, I think our family might be addicted to remodels as my son and his wife in Chicago are in the midst of one and my other son and his wife here in Phoenix just began demo at their new house in North Central Phoenix (pictures to come!). Oh, and I am currently working on a condo remodel project... What can I say, there is something very satisfying in the challenge of seeing potential in an old home and making it your own.

Do you love looking at before and after pictures as much as I do? Don't you love seeing what interesting new styles people choose for their homes?

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

We headed back to California a couple weeks ago to buy some new apparel for the store. While we were there we forced ourselves to hit up the flea market and some of our favorite restaurants. We know, we know. It's a pretty rough life...

Aren't these suitcases just fabulous? We contemplated ditching ours to really travel back home in style.

Old french daybed - was sold by the time we got to it! We were devastated...so we just bought every french linen and seedsack we could get our hands on.

Vintage linens dyed in pretty pastels for spring. We picked up a few lovely items - we are in love with pink right now.

We give shlepping a whole new meaning - our laugh of the day was Jen's crazy cart that wouldn't roll right. She ran over my heels about 10 times that day until I made her walk in front.

What do you think? Jen's ready for the 80's again! She almost bought the pink prom dress...almost.

Krista driving a hard-bargain.

We visited one of our favorite showrooms - CP Shades! We went crazy ordering - wait until you see! We even tried to get the owner to make some special scarves for us from dye samples!

This cashmere-blend sweater came in already, and we're almost sold out!

Pre-order your life's a beach sweater today - they will go quickly! This grouping of three is available now at The Willows.

Great new cargos coming in - we ordered pants and shorts!

New line we found at market - it is AMAZING! The mannequin in front of the showroom drew us in - just wait until you see this line!

Can you believe this line is Hurley? We are so excited about what we found for summer!

We ate at the famous Ramos House Cafe - you can buy the cookbook at The Willows. The place is so charming - there is even a line for the bathroom because nobody wants to come out when they go in!

Sweet iced-tea in mason jars - what could be more appropriate? We were drooling over the menu, and finally decided to all do a different dish so we could sample each others! The man at the table next to us ordered two bloody mary's and you should have seen these! They were so full of vegetables that he claimed he couldn't eat his meal! We offered to help...

In order - fried chicken salad with dried cranberries, roasted apple and smoked bacon mac and cheese, and baked potato soup. That is good ole' southern comfort food!

Monday, February 21, 2011

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Have you been following all the great home makeovers going on over at house*tweaking?

Like this fabulous headboard they made themselves?

Well, they just posted all about how they made this fantastic sliding door. My daughter-in-law has been dreaming of putting one of these in her home and they lay out all the step-by-step directions. We just might have to roll up our sleeves and get going on making our very own...

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Don't you love this old painting of my husband's mother when she was young? I really wish people had portraits like this done more often these days, as I find them absolutely lovely and so timeless. Does anyone know an artist who does anything like this? Wouldn't it make the best Mother's Day gift? Hmmm, the wheels are turning...

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Remember how excited I was about my new, clean, freshly painted library? Well, it is currently residence to three little chicks (one of whom was named after Rob Pattinson... is that supposed to be flattering for him? Anyway...). They are growing fast, so we are hard at work trying to build a permanent home for them.

We still had this old door from the original house (the entire living room was that color red), so we decided to add it to the coop to give it a little personal touch. I am sure the chickens appreciate the thought...

Does anyone else have chickens? Any advice or important things I should know?

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The Willows is a luxurious home furnishings and lifestyle atelier and showroom boasting a casual, yet classically elegant collection of beautiful finds. We offer unique, timeless appeal for your home or office with “objects for a life well lived”.

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